The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1887-06-25
CAlNA'S ROYAL HAREM.
Shame Crowned with Distinction and
Vice q Road to Honor.

chu families in high rank have beer
in fluried state of mind for sew
eral days past. In the first plac,
none of the daughters of these fam
lilies are permitted to marry for al
least year before the wife is chosen
for the emperor Of China. During
the spring months of last yeal
Manchu papas ofimportance having
daughters between the ages Of
twelve and eighteen were required
to take them to Pekin, where they
passed under the eyes Of the digni
taries whose duty it was to selec,
an empress for the young sovereign
1t is necessary that the candidates
for this distinguished place in the
great palace be Manchus, in order
to preserve the racial purity Of the
imperial line. China's ruling fam
lily, for more than two centuries
have not been Chinese, but Man
churians. They are interlopers al
Pekin, but they are well settled
there, and have moved into the i'm.
perial palace to stay. Many OF
these interesting damsels had to
make long and arduous journey in
order to pass under the critical
gaze of the officials. They spent
many hot days on dusty roads and
stretched their weary limbs at night
on the couches of the dismal way
side inns, and after they had only
one chance in hundreds of becom-
ing an empress. There was this
consolation, however, that if they
missed the capital prize they might
be chosen to fill some less dazzling
place at court, and at any rate they
could go home perhaps wiser girls
and get married as soon as the nee
essary arrangements could be made.
No reporters were present to des-
cribe the happy event last summer
that followed the choosing of a
bride. 1t is very solemn thing
to gaze upon the emperor even
months before he assumes the reins
Of government, and 50 nobody out
side of a limited official circle saw
the ceremony that made a very
beautiful girl, named Tao-Tai, the
empress of China.
Less than three months ago this
seventeen year old emperor form
ally assumed the reigns Of govern
ment. Before and since that event,
according to all reports, all the eligi-
bic Manchu maidens have been in
a hutter over the choosing of the
female members of the court. The
emperor is, by law, entitled to
seven concubines, and he may fill
his harem with any number Of
e" illegal " concubines. No degrada-
ton attaches to this relation in the
imperial palace. Indeed, it is a
place to which any Manchu lady
Of the requisite rank is proud to
aspire. If an inmate of the harem
she may become the mother of an
emperor, as the throne doesn't de-
cend to any particular son of the
ruler, but it is his custom to name
as his successor any male member
of his family Of a younger genera
ton than himself whom he wishes
to leave as his heir. There are
other possible results of life in
the imperial harem that induce
ambitious young women to regard
adnittance to its exclusive circles
as highly desirable. When any Of
the illegal concubines give birth to a
son her status is legitimatized and
she becomes "princess of the
blood" and a sharer thereafter in
the fortunes of her boy, who, if he
does not become an emperor, has
exceptional opportunities for a
brilliant career.
All the young ladies who do not
present the emperor with a son or
daughter by the time they are
twenty-five years old are returned
to the homes Of their parents. No
stain attaches to thier character.
In fact they are regarded as persons
Of distinction and they are eagerly
sought in marriage by gentlemen of
their own rank. OF course. they
were all beautiful women, for no
others are admitted to the emper-
or's seraglio. Every three years the
harem is in this sense weeded out,
and then opportunity is afforded
for other tender maidens in their
teens to undergo the ordeal Of the
competitive examination which ap-
pears to be as prominent a feature
of the love affairs of his majesty as
of the Chinese civil service. Indeed,
the manner of filling and manag-
ing the imperial harem has changed
very little since the time over 600
ago, when Marco Polo wrote his
graphic description of the domestic
life of Kublai Khan, the great
mogul emperor, who magnificently
adorned the very grounds in Pekin
where the present emperor resides.
Polo's figures were rather tall, but
the number of court attaches prob
ably exceeded that of to-day,
though Kwanh Su has an army Of
5000 eunuchs now within his pal
ace walls.